Scholar Works to Improve People’s Health and the Environment

Scholar of the MonthJohn HoornbeekAssociate Professor of Health Policy and ManagementCollege of Public Health2006-present

John Hoornbeek is an associate professor in the College of Public Health’s Department of Health Policy and Management and serves as the director of the college’s Center for Public Policy and Health. In his role as director of the Center for Public Policy and Health at Kent State, he is currently working with the center’s staff and colleagues to facilitate a process among Portage County’s three health departments and their community partners to develop a countywide collaborative approach to improving public health. He is also working on a practitioner-oriented research effort aimed at studying the effects of local health department consolidation on health department finances, services and workforces.

Hoornbeek’s research interests are in environmental policy and regulation, intergovernmental relations and public management. He has authored multiple publications in peer-reviewed outlets and produced professional research products for a variety of public and non-profit sector organizations. Hoornbeek’s most recent scholarly activity includes publication of peer-reviewed articles examining water pollution policy in the International Journal of Water Governance and Society and Natural Resources. He has served as a principal investigator or co-principal investigator on more than $3.5 million in externally funded projects over the last decade.

For more than a quarter century, Hoornbeek has worked on environmental and public health issues at the federal, state and local levels of government. His experiences have included appointments with the Wisconsin State Legislature, the Milwaukee County Department of Health and Human Services, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Congress, and the National Environmental Services Center at West Virginia University.

Hoornbeek joined the faculty of Kent State’s College of Public Health in 2011 after serving as a center director and faculty member in the university’s Department of Political Science since 2006. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh and his Master’s from the University of Wisconsin – Madison.

About Kent State’s Scholar of the Month
Kent State’s Scholar of the Month recognizes faculty researchers and scholars whose recent work has had an important impact on their professional fields and has brought exposure and notoriety to the university. Each month, a different college will have the opportunity to nominate a researcher/scholar for this recognition. There is also a month when a Regional Campuses faculty member will be featured.

The selection process is in the hands of the dean and his or her colleagues and faculty. Hence, this is recognition by the person’s college colleagues that is then taken up by the university. The deans communicate the person’s name to the Division of Research and Sponsored Programs for recognition as Scholar of the Month.

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